Flyers tie game 3 times, defeat Penguins in shootout

PITTSBURGH -- Alex Bump scored in his NHL debut, and the Philadelphia Flyers tied the game three times on the way to a 4-3 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Owen Tippett and Denver Barkey also scored, and Dan Vladar made 20 saves for the Flyers (29-22-11), who have won four of five. 

“We hung in there,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “The penalty kill gave us some juice. The young guys are scoring. So, yeah, I like the response.” 

Trevor Zegras scored in the second round of the shootout for the Flyers. Vladar stopped Anthony Mantha, Rickard Rakell and Egor Chinakhov.

Rakell had a goal and an assist, Chinakhov had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 12 saves for the Penguins (31-17-14), who have lost three straight (0-2-1). They have lost 14 of 18 games that have reached overtime and nine of 10 that have gone to the shootout. 

“When part of your game’s not going well consistently, then there’s conversations about it,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “There’s buzz about it. Then, it wears on you. Then, you get in these situations, too, and rather than attack, rather than being excited for them, there’s some [anxiety]. And some of that’s on me.”

The Penguins played without forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby missed a sixth straight game with a lower-body injury; Malkin served the first of a five-game suspension for a slash to the face of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in a 5-1 loss on Thursday.

Pittsburgh had a 4-on-3 power play after Vladar was called for interference with 2:09 left in overtime, but couldn't score on two shots on goal.

“We’ve all just got to move a little bit more, try and simplify,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “You think there's a lot of space on the ice (at 4-on-3), but we still only have one more guy. You’ve just got to shoot pucks, and you’ve just got to outwork them.”

Tommy Novak put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on the power play at 3:00 of the first period with a one-timer from the high slot off a pass from Justin Brazeau.

Tippett took 54 seconds to answer, tying it 1-1 at 3:54 on the Flyers' first of two shots on goal in the period. He scored his 20th goal of the season on a one-timer from the inner edge of the left face-off circle.

Rakell gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 3:38 of the second period. He drifted to the high slot and scoring with a wrist shot off a pass from Chinakhov.

Bump scored 1:08 later, tying it 2-2 at 4:46 with a wrist shot through traffic from the right circle.

“Not as nervous as I thought I was going to be,” Bump said. “Actually, I think I was most nervous for the rookie lap, to be honest. Didn’t want to fall or toe pick. But once I started playing hockey, it’s just another hockey game, I think. Still kind of getting used to it, but only going to get better.”

Erik Karlsson needed just 59 seconds to give the Penguins their third lead. He made it 3-2 at 5:45 with a one-timer past Vladar’s blocker.

“Playing 82 games throughout a year, you’re going to get dips and you're going to have highs and you're going to have lows,” Karlsson said. “We’ve just got to make sure that our lows are not too low and don’t last for too long. And obviously, right now we're trying to figure that out.”

Barkey tied it 3-3 at 10:03 by driving to the net, taking a pass from Matvei Michkov and lifting a backhand in at the right post.

“I think from the start of the year, honestly, I’m not sure what the stat is, but I’m sure we’ve played from behind quite a bit this year,” Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “So, it’s not somewhere that we’re uncomfortable. I think it’s just a testament to the team. We’re never out of it.”

NOTES: Zegras scored his fourth deciding goal in the shootout this season. ... Bump is the first Flyers player to score in his NHL debut since Hayden Hodgson (one goal, one assist on March 24, 2022). ... The Flyers scored three tying goals in a game against the Penguins for the third time, following Feb. 16, 1992, and March 31, 1992. ... Karlsson tied Chris Chelios (322) for the ninth-most go-ahead goals by a defenseman in NHL history. Brent Burns of the Colorado Avalanche (343) is the only active defenseman with more.